The Hawaii Legislature largely ignored the recommendations that came from an environmental working group convened by the House to come up with policy changes after the Aug. 8 wildfires on Maui.

Chaired by Reps. Nicole Lowen and Elle Cochran, the environmental remediation group crafted a list of recommendations centered on funding long-term monitoring of air and water quality around Lahaina, and enhancing coastal wetlands to make drought-plagued West Maui more resilient to future wildfires.

But each recommendation died this session, which ended earlier this month, while new research from the University of Hawaii came out this week indicating growing health problems among those exposed to last summer’s wildfires in West Maui and Upcountry.

After wildfires consumed much of Lahaina, burned parts of Kula and claimed more than 100 lives, House Speaker Scott Saiki convened six bipartisan working groups. The legislative groups tackled issues of wildfire prevention, environmental remediation, education, jobs, shelter, food and water.

Nothing came of the wetlands’ restoration recommendation, but two bills emerged concerning the long-term monitoring of air and water quality to evaluate the fires’ effects on people and the environment.

House Bill 1839 aimed to appropriate $1.3 million to expand air quality monitoring in Lahaina, and $40,000 for two air sensors to be placed in nearby Olowalu, according to a report by the last Senate committee to hear the measure before it died. It also would have allocated an unspecified amount for research to understand how the wildfires affected the environment and appropriated $78,000 for a full-time environmental health specialist.

The state Department of Health, the nonprofit community group Lahaina Strong, the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Maui Chamber of Commerce, one member of the Maui County Council and several individuals supported the bill.

House Bill 1840 would have steered $590,000 to the Department of Land and Natural Resources for pollution detection, coastal water testing and sampling after storm events. Testing for contaminants in fish, invertebrates and soils would have also received funding, and it would have provided $121,000 for two aquatic biologist positions.

DLNR supported the bill as well as many of the same groups and individuals, but it died as well.

Brian Neilson, head of the agency’s Division of Aquatic Resources, said long-term water quality monitoring of Lahaina’s nearshore waters is still very much needed to understand how fire-related contaminants have affected the ocean and marine life. But where the funding for that will come from is an open question.

“Although some funds were allocated through FEMA/HiEMA to conduct monitoring and analysis, I understand that the contracts have not yet been executed,” Neilson said by email. “The only funding source I’m aware of that’s actually been executed was a National Science Foundation grant to the University of Hawaii which funded some water quality testing right after the fires.”

HB 1839 died in the Senate Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz. He didn’t respond to an interview request this week.

The other bill was referred to the House Agriculture and Environment Committee and the Water and Land Committee. Both committees deferred action, so HB 1840 died.

Lowen declined to share any insights about why the working group’s recommendations failed to gain traction.

“The results speak for themselves,” she said.

Scientists and community activists expressed disappointment.

“Non-passage of legislation to support ecosystem-scale, longer-term understanding about wildfire drivers and effects feels like a missed opportunity after the unprecedented tragedy and scale of the 2023 Hawaii wildfires,” said Renee Takesue, a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

Takesue is studying the extent and profiles of fire-related contamination in and around Lahaina’s burn zone.

Lucienne de Naie, chair of the Sierra Club Maui Group, said the bills were an investment in public health and might have increased public trust in government. Many residents, particularly in West Maui, have lost faith in elected leaders, she said, and funding for continued monitoring would have been a way to demonstrate that government officials care.

“It’s just very sad that in one of the windiest places in Hawaii and in a place that has been subject now to a lot of toxic debris that this wouldn’t be a priority,” de Naie said in an interview. “That ash is going to be blowing around for quite a while.”

Rep. Amy Perruso, a member of the working group, said it’s likely the bills died simply because they contained funding and because they were related to the environment.

“Climate change and environmental issues were not an area of strength this year for the Legislature. They were clearly not prioritized by the money chairs in either body,” Perruso said.

The defeat of the environmental working group’s recommendations comes as new concerns emerge about the health of people who live or lived near the burn zones in Lahaina and Upcountry.

On Wednesday, the University of Hawaii released a new study that found nearly half of Maui residents affected by the fires who participated in the research experienced a decline in their health compared to a year ago.

Exposure to ash and smoke from wild or urban fires can contribute to a range of health problems. The study found that about 74% of participants in tests conducted in February face an increased risk of cardiovascular disease due to elevated blood pressure. Up to 60% may suffer from poor respiratory health.

More than 4 in 10 people reported finding it hard to access medical care, an increase from the prior year when 1 in 10 experienced such difficulties, according to the study.

Nearly 38% of Hispanic respondents reported having no health insurance at all.

The study also identified severe mental health needs. More than half of participants said they experienced depression after the fires. About 30% reported symptoms of moderate or severe anxiety.

The study group consisted of 679 participants, two-thirds of whom resided in Lahaina at the time of the fires. Other participants either worked in Lahaina, or lived or worked in fire-affected areas in Kula. The samples were collected mostly in February.

Lead researchers Ruben Juarez and Alika Maunakea said their findings show an “urgent need” for continued support for the health of Maui fire survivors and to overcome health care disparities that plague minority and underserved populations.

“Maui is still in the process of healing,” they said in the report.

A dashboard with the results can be viewed here.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.

Civil Beat’s coverage of environmental issues on Maui is supported by grants from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and the Hawaii Wildfires Recovery Fund, the Knight Foundation and the Doris Duke Foundation.